A day after the Left organisations won the students union polls, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Monday remained tense as clashes broke out inside the campus even as newly-elected leaders said the ABVP activists unleashed violence early in the morning.
The newly-elected students' union president N Sai Balaji approached Delhi Police with a complaint this morning about the violence unleashed allegedly by ABVP activists at around 3 AM. Balaji and senior professors, including Jayati Ghosh, went to Vasant Kunj police station to file the complaint where locals had gathered in large numbers.
Balaji and others were escorted back to campus after filing the complaint where students held a protest against the violence inside the campus. The counting of votes in the weekend was delayed by ABVP activists who protested inside counting centre alleging rigging of polls.
According to Balaji's complaint, he was informed that a student Pawan Meena, pursuing a degree course in Russian, was attacked by ABVP activists outside Sutlej hostel. He rushed to the spot where he saw ABVP activists "chasing and physically assaulting all those students whom they thought were friends of Meena".
As he called the police, Balaji claimed ABVP activists asked him to stay away and threatened him when he intervened again. Another student Abhinay was also thrashed by the group but could not be saved by the guards, who were also targeted. Abhinay fell unconscious, he added.
"Fearing my safety some students asked me to sit inside the PCR van. The moment I sat inside, ABVP students tried to open the door and drag me out threatening to teach me a lesson...The ABVP activists managed to stop the van and make one of their activists sit beside me," Balaji said adding he was assaulted by them.
However, an ABVP spokesperson denied any violence from their side while claiming that their activists were attacked by the "Left criminals". The spokesperson claimed that 15-20 Left workers, including non-students, hit one student Sujal Yadav with sticks and threw punches.
A senior police official said around 3 AM, they received a call about a scuffle between students. "We are investigating the case. The situation is under control normal. Police arrangements are in place," he said.
Balaji, meanwhile, in a separate complaint to police demanded adequate security for him. In his complaint, he named two ABVP leaders as threatening him while he was going to the police station. "...students from JNU abused me and threatened me...meet me outside the police station and we will finish/kill you," Balaji said in his second complaint.